Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit in recent days ordered two sets of actions, following a report by reporter Raviv Drucker on Channel 10 that Adv. David Shimron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal lawyer, was involved in Israel's submarine deal with Germany.
Mandelblit ordered State Prosecutor Adv. Shai Nitzan to make a preliminary examination of materials collected on the subject. The purpose of this examination is to decide, with the help of other lawyers in the State Prosecutor's Office, whether measures should be taken in the near future to initiate an assessment of the affair and use the police to investigate and clarify the events and the prime minister's motives in deciding to purchase the submarines. Among other things, such an investigation would consider Netanyahu's awareness or unawareness that Shimron represented the German company seeking to sell the submarines to Israel.
Mandelblit also ordered an examination of arrangements for dealing with conflicts of interest in the Prime Minister's Office.
Reports in the affair to date indicate that whether Netanyahu committed a breach of trust by promoting interests of a company that was represented by his lawyer and confidant, or whether, as he claims, he did not know that Shimron represents the German company, the lines between what is permissible and what is forbidden are unclear, and the arrangements in the Prime Minister's Office for dealing with conflicts of interest are inadequate. In a properly run country, arrangements for handling conflicts of interest in the Prime Minister's Office should be published on the home page of the Prime Minister's Office website. Since this is not the case, however, we have been forced, like other newspapers, to ask the Ministry of Justice to disclose to us the arrangements for handling a conflict of interests on the part of the prime minister. As of web posting, the information had not been received.
Netanyahu himself commented on the reports about the submarine purchase at the start of today's cabinet meeting. "As Prime Minister of Israel, I dedicate the best of my time to ensuring the security of Israel. The principle that guides me is clear - Israel will be able to defend itself by itself against any enemy, in any field. The security of Israel requires the acquisition of submarines and the renewal of the submarine fleet. These are strategic weapons systems that ensure the future, and I tell you, the very existence of the State of Israel for decades to come. Increasing the security and strength of the State of Israel is the only consideration that guided me in acquiring the submarines. This has been the only consideration that has ever guided me and there is no other," Netanyahu said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2016
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